Day goes swimmingly for Obamas

A day after spending a quiet Christmas at their oceanfront vacation rental, President-elect Barack Obama and his children watched a dolphin show at an aquatic park and then picked up some shave ice, a Hawaiian delicacy.

Obama and his two daughters, Malia and Sasha, visited Sea Life Park Hawaii on Friday. Reporters were not allowed to join Obama inside the park, and aides to the president-elect did not immediately have a roster of who accompanied Obama on the 90-minute visit. Obama’s wife, Michelle, was not in reporters’ view during the outing.

Visitors to the park said the Obamas attended a dolphin show. Some visitors showed reporters snapshots they took with Obama, who assumes the presidency in less than a month.

Malia and Sasha later ate shave ice at Kokonuts Shave Ice & Snacks while their dad downed a tuna melt.

Obama joked with reporters traveling with him that he would eat his lunch first to set an example for his daughters. The president-elect then ordered a mound of shave ice, colored orange and green.

He laughed as the children and family friends ordered their snacks, which included flavors such as pina colada, vanilla and cherry.

“I’m not arguing anymore,” Obama said in faux exasperation when one of the group’s young members asked for a complicated blend of flavors poured on her midday dessert. “I gave up.”

He also offered to buy journalists a bowl of the slush, which resembles a snow cone -- his second invitation this week. On Sunday, he offered beer to reporters waiting while he played golf.

“Guys, here’s your chance,” he said Friday. “No? I’m telling you, this is really good.”

No one took him up on it.

Obama and his family are on a 12-day trip to Obama’s native Hawaii, a family vacation the president-elect is trying to keep as private as possible.

He has largely stayed out of public view while at the rented vacation home near Honolulu. No speeches, no fundraisers, no forced political meetings. Just family and close friends, holed up behind stone and lava walls at the $9-million home for his last trip before he takes office Jan. 20.

Obama has ventured into public only a few times since arriving here from his home in Chicago last Saturday. He brought with him only four aides and his Secret Service detail. His comments to journalists have included little more than jokes about bar tabs or self-deprecating humor about his golf game.

On Friday, Obama made his daily trip to the Semper Fit Center at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and made small talk with onlookers who waited for him to leave the gym.

“You guys have a wonderful new year,” Obama said, moving down the makeshift rope line as visitors snapped pictures with their cellphones.

On Christmas Day, Obama ventured from his home to thank Marines and sailors at the base. He spent more than an hour at the dining hall, posing for pictures between the ham, roast beef and turkey on the buffet.

The trip came well after the network evening news programs had aired, a move that allowed him to visit without the suggestion of exploiting the military to get on TV.

“Hey,” Obama said as he walked into the mess hall wearing a short-sleeved shirt and slacks. “Just wanted to say hi.”

That was one of only a handful of trips Obama and his motorcade have taken. He and Michelle have visited Marine Corps Base Hawaii for daily morning workouts. Twice, he and friends have played golf. He attended a private memorial service for his grandmother on Tuesday and scattered her ashes into the Pacific Ocean.